Method of effecting chemical reactions between solid matters and gases or gas mixtures.



1. R. C. RUDOLPHS & A. G. THISELL. METHOD OF EFFECTING CHEMICALREACTIONS BETWEENSOLID MATTERS AND GASES v 0R GAS MIXTURES. I 1APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21, 1911- Patented Feb. 29,1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

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Patented Feb. 29,1916.

0R GAS MIXTURES. APPLICATTON FILED .IUNEZ?I 1911.

jrlbfilvl'x ya W qw JOHN RUDOLPH CHRISTIAN RUDOLFHS, OF NACKA, ANDANDERS GUSTAF THISELL, OF

I STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN.

METHOD OF EFFECTING CHEMICAL REACTIONS BETWEEN SOLID MATTERS AND GASESon GAS MIXTURES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb, 29, 1916,

Application filed June 27, 1911. Serial No. 635,625.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN RUDOLPH CHRISTIAN RUooLPHs, a subject of theKing of Sweden, and resident of Nacka, in the Kingdom of Sweden,andANDERs GUSTAF THISELL, a subject of the King of Sweden, and residentof Nybrogatan 36, Stockholm, in the Kingdom of Sweden, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in the Method of Efi'ccting ChemicalReactions Between Solid Matters and Gases or Gas Mixtures, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to a method of effecting chemical reactionsbetween solid matters and gases or gas mixtures. The invention alsocomprises arrangements in furnaces adapted to the carrying out of thesaid method. The method can be used for effecting the most differentreactions between solid matters and gaseous matters. For instance may bementioned the reduction of metallic oxids as oxids of iron, magnesium,barium,

chrome, copper and so on either alone or mixed with each other or withother matters by the action of reducing gases, for instance producer gasor hydrogen gas.

As a further example of the application of the invention may bementioned the effecting of azotizing operations for instance for themanufacturing of lime-nitrogen by the action of nitrogen uponcalcium-carbid at an increased temperature. Also silicic acid may beremoved from carbon mixtures or metallic oxid-s by passing fiuorinthrough such matters. The method may be used also for the chlorinizingof matters. Two or more reactions may also be effected one after theother, for instance roasting and reduction in the manufacturing ofiron-sponge preferably pre-heated reaction gas or gas mixture, or ifrequired, to the successive actions of two or. more different gases orgas mixtures, which under pressure are forced through the matterinclosed in the said casings without the reaction gas being in contactwith the heating gas before or during the reaction, the products ofcombustion of the heating gas being then led through chambers located inadvanceof the chamber or chambers in which the reaction is taking placefor the purpose of pre-hea-ting.

In order to prevent the matter subjected to reaction from sticking tothe fire-proof casings (for instance when formed of chamotte) containingthe matter, and, if necessary, to alsoprevent the reaction gases fromattacking the said casings, and to facilitate the passage of thereaction gas through the material treated, a porous layer of lime,carbon, or other material dependent on the nature of the material beingtreated, is provided between the matter and the casing.

In the practical realization of the method, it is preferable to proceedin such a manner that when the matter is charged into the casings one ormore vertical channels are formed with walls of as uniform thickness aspossible, or the matter isarranged as uniformly as possible around oneor more perforated tubes, in which channels ortubes the reaction gas isintroduced under pressure, preferably at their bottom ends, and is thenforced by the pressure from the channels or tubes into and through theporous matter. The said vertical channels are preferably filled with apulverulent matter, adapted partially to act in some manner upon thereaction gas or upon the material, which is treated, partially to have aretarding action upon the gas passing through the said channels and thusto facilitate the passing of the gas laterally through the matter. As anexample of such a material, carbonpowder may be mentioned. If, forinstance, the reaction gas consists of a reducing gas, for instanceproducer gas, carbonic acid, if present in thereaction gas, is

reduced by the carbon powder to carbon monoxid which also has a reducingact1on..-

' The invention will now be described as applied bv way of example tothetreatment In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammaticplan view of a furnace constructed in accordance with the invenv tion,thecenter part of the furnace being omitted to avoid needlessrepetition. Fig. 2 shows also in a plan and detail view a part of thefurnace. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the furnace on the line A-B ofFig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line CD of Fig. l, thetransmitting pipes being shown located at the chambers 17 and 18. Fig. 5is a vertical section of a casing and illustrates the charging thereof.Fig. 6 schematically shows a horizontal section through two chambers inorder to illustrate the passage of air and gas.

The furnace forcarrying out the invention consists of a number ofchambers located in two rows. In the drawing an arrangement ofthirty-four chambers is indicated, located in two rows with seventeenchambers in each row and designated by l to 34 inclusive. The said rowsof chambers communicate at the ends of the furnace through conduits X,X, and in each row the chambers communicate with each other by means ofopenings 51 in the brickwork (Figs. 3 and 6). Thus gas and air can passfreely from one chamber to another in each row, and from one row toanother.' Each chamber has a removable cover L and between the two rowsof chambers, two conduits F and G are located, one F adapted forsupplying producer gas and the other G for supplying air. The tubes Gand F are provided with vertical pipe branchings G and F respectively.

' Removable transmitting tubes 1 and Z can ,be connected to the pipe G,and removable transmitting tubes E and n can be connected to the pipe F,so that either air from conduit G or producer gas from conduit F may beled into the casings through the channels 2 in the walls of the furnaceby means of the transmitting tubes 1' and E, or air from G and gas fromF may, by means of transmittingtubes Z and n respectively, be led to thechambers surrounding the casings through the conduits a and Q). The gasand air last mentioned only serve to heat the casings externally andnever come into contact with the material contained within the casings.f

In Fig. 4, all the transmitting tubes E, 1*,--Z and n are shown, thoughin practical operation they never occupy the position shownsimultaneously on one chamber, as will be clear from the followingdescription.

Four chambers are shown in Fig. 3; two (1, 2) of the said chambers areempty and two (3. 4) are provided with casings. In each chamber a numberof casings (in the drawings six casings) are provided, cont ining thepulverulent ore to be treated in the manner described below. Between thecasings, located in the chambers, fire-proof bricks w (Fig. 3) areprovided in order to support the casings, as shown in Figs. 2-and 3,said bricks being arranged so as to form a grate so that completecommunication for gas and air between the casings is secured.

The casings are charged in the following manner, (see Fig. 5). In theempty casing 35, a box 36 of sheet metal is located. In the spacebetween the said box and the inner sides of the casing a layer 37of'pulverized lime, magnesite or any other suitable material isprovided, and after placing one or more cores 38 in the box, the latteris filled with pulverulent ore 39. The charging of the said ore iseffected preferably in such manner that on each layer of ore 20 to 30centimeters in height, located in the casing, a thin layer 40 ofpulverizedlime or any other suitable material is applied, which preventsthe pulverulent ore from forming a single piece along the whole heightof the furnace during the subsequent heating operation. When thecharging has been effected, the box 36 and the cores 38 are withdrawn,so that a pillar is left in each casing provided with one or morevertical channels. Instead of using a core which is withdrawn after thecasings have been charged, tubes may be used, the walls of which areperforated, and which are not withdrawn, but remain in the materialduring the operation. In this case the tube or tubes form the verticalchannel or channels. The said channels may be covered with a piece ofchamotte for instance. When all the casings have been charged the coverL is placed on the chamber, which is then connected with the system.

As indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, channels 50 can be providedunder the respective rows of chambers extending longitudinally thereof.Only one channel is shown in Fig. 4, and a track is provided fortransport wagons. In this case longer casings 35' are used which extenddownward for some distance into the channel 50 and are provided at theirbottom ends with a slide 52 or any other closing device, for the purposeof facilitating the emptying of the casings. This arrangement is notsuitable for use when iron ore is treated, but can be used in the caseof producing materials 'such as lime nitrogen which are not liable tostick in the casings. In this case the reac tion gas is introduced intothe upper end of the casings. The conduits which are used for thispurpose are not, however, shown in the drawings.

The furnace operates in the following manner. It is assumed that thechambers '1 and 2, which, when pulverulent iron ore is treated, asstated above, contain wholly reduced ore. are being emptied in order tobe subsequently recharged. The damper S separating the chambers 1 and 2from the subsequent chambers is then in the position indicated in Figs.1 and 3. Other dampers provided in the furnace are so located that airfrom the conduit G is forced through a chambers 19, and 21. The chambers18 to 21 inclusive have then been heated to a suitable temperature byburning producer gas supplied from conduit F through transmitting pipesn, conduits "v, e, and openings 54 in the chamber Walls by means of theair pre-heated in the chambers 3 to 17 inclusive.

Fig. 6 schematically illustrates how air and gas are supplied to thechambers inclosing the casings. It is'supposed that the chambers shownin this figure are Nos. 18 and 19. Air, having passed through and beenpre-heated in, the chambers 3 to 17, passes through the conduit X intothe chamb'er18 and from there through the openings 51 in the brickworkinto the chamber 19, the principal direction of the air current beingindicated by arrows lying in the longitudinal direction of the furnace.The gas is introduced into the chambers from the space surrounding themthrough openings 54, the principal direction of the gas current beingindicated by arrows in the transverse direction of the furnace. eratedinclose the casings and heat the ore contained in the same to a suitabletemperature, for instance 1000 centigrade or more. The products ofcombustion, however, never come into contact with the ore. in thecasings. While the combustion gases pass through the chambers 22 to 33inclusive, their heat is transmitted to the casings located in the saidchambers, the charges of which are thereby pre -heated gradually. Fromthe chamber 33, the casings of which have been charged lastly, the saidgases are led through the channel a to the conduit 8 and to the chimnev.

In order to effect a rational oxidation and reductionof the ore chargedin the furnace, special channels are provided, through which air and gascan be supplied to the casings alternately. WVhen the pulverulent orelocated in the chambers 19, 20, 21, has the temperature necessary forthe oxidation of the impurities, air is introduced into the casingsthrough the transmitting pipes 1- and conduits 2 from the air channels G(see right side Fig. 4:) which air is subjected to pressure effected bya fan (not shown). The impurities. especially sulfur, are therebyoxidized. The ore contained in the cas- The flames thus gen- 1 ings ofthe chamber 18 has already been freed from impurities in the describedmanner and is now ready for the. reducing operation. For effecting thesaid reduction carbon powder or any other reducing agent is firstintroduced through normally closed holes H in the cover L of the chamber(see Fig. 3), and owing to the fact that the said holes communicate withthe vertical channels provided in theore contained in the casings, thesaid vertical channels'are filled with carbon powder or the reducingagent. After the channels have thus been filled, the holes H are closedby suitable means, and the casings in the chamber 18 are put intocommunication with the gas channel F through a transmitting pipe E (leftside Fig. 4:) which communicates with the channels z in the walls,through which the gas is led, through the bottom of the furnace so thatthe vertical channels in the ore are supplied with gas. from theirbottom up-,

ward. The said gas is prevented by the pulverized reducing agent and byplugs closing the upper ends of the vertical channels from escaping atthe top of the channels and carbonic acid, which the gas may contain, isconverted into carbon monoxid by the reducing agent. Besides, thevelocity of the gas is reduced by the said reducing agent so that thegas is forced into the porous mass, and, coiiperating with the reducingagent, exercises a reducing action in the known manner. The casings 35are open at the top and the charge of the same is covered with carbonpowder for protecting the said charge from being acted upon by the gasesin the top space of the chamber. The reduction gases having been forcedthrough the charge of the casing, escape through the open top end of thesame into the chambers and continue for the purpose of pre-heating,through the chambers in advance and then to the chimney. When thereducing operation in the chamber 18 has proceeded to the desireddegree, the transmitting pipe r is moved from the chamber 19 to thechamber 21 in order to introduce air for effecting oxidation in thesame, and the transmitting pipe E is moved from the chamber 18 to thechamber 19, in which consequently reduction is eflected. The chamber 18is'now cooled and during the cooling operation the reducing operation inthe same is finished, if necessary. The damper S is then moved forwardfor instance to the chamber 4 and the damper S is so located that thecombustion gases will pass through and escape from one of the freshlycharged chambers, which have been connected with the system. Theoperations are then repeated in the described manner.

Reactions between other solid matters and gases are efi'ected in amanner analogous to the manner described above. For the production oflime-nitrogen, for instance, the casings are filled with. pulverulentcalciumcarbid, while nitrogen gas, preferably preheated, is introducedthrough the conduit G. In other respects the operation is effected in amanner analogous to that described above.

What we claim is:

l. The method of effecting chemical reactions between solid matter andgaseous material at an increased temperature,- consisting in subjectingthe solid matter, while held in parcels adapted to be successivelyheated from the outside, to the action of the gaseous material byforcing the latter under pressure through the said parcels of solidmatter without bringing the reaction gas in contact with the heating gasand pre heating the said parcels of solid matter by the products ofcombustion of the heating gas in advance of the introduction of thegaseous reaction material.

2. The method of effecting chemical reactions between solid matter andgaseous material at an increased temperature, consisting in subjectingthe solid matter, while held in parcels adapted to be successivelyheated from the outside, to the action of the gaseous material byforcing the latter under pressure through the said parcels of solidmatter without bringing the reaction gas in contact with the heating gasand preheating the said parcels of solid matter by'the products ofcombustion of the heatinggas and the products of reaction of the gaseousmaterial in advance of the introduction of the gaseous reactionmaterial.

3; The method of effecting chemical recontact with the heating gas, andpreheating the said parcels by the products of com-- bustion of theheating gas and the products of reaction of the reaction gas. in advanceof the introduction of the reaction gas.

4. The method of effecting chemical reactions between solid matter. andgaseous material at an increased temperature, consisting in subjectingthe solid matter, while held in parcels adapted to be successivelyheated from the outside, to the action of reaction gas by introducing arestraining mass of porous material between the matter to be treated andthe reaction gas, forcing the reaction gas under pressure through thesaid porous material and parcels of solid matter without bringingthe-reaction gas in,

contact with the heating gas and preheating the said parcels by theproducts of combustion of the heating gas and the products of reactionof the reaction gas in advance of the introduction of the reaction gas.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto signed our names in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

JOHN RUDOLPH CHRISTIAN RUDOLPHS. -ANDERS GUSTAF THISELL. i lVitnessesTlnonwarm NYSTROM, AXEL EHRUER.

